Viewing profile - Pearl Essence

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Username:
Pearl Essence
Groups:
Alias:
Hellhound, Little Miss,
Age:
22
Birthday:
July 4th
Gender Identity:
Female
Race:
Fox Faunus (Ears)
Nationality:
Atlas
Character Picture:
https://imgur.com/yTjyBpP
Height:
4' 8"
Eye Color:
Red Amber
Aura Color:
Silver
Physical Description:
Many who see her notice ears of silvery white tipped with black fur as she often walks under people’s line of sight or the sleek and painted prosthetics that have replaced most of her left arm and her right hand. Pearl is easily mistaken as frail and fragile at first glance. White hair, that’s the color of silver when it catches the light, fair complexion fitting of her mixed Atlesian and Mistralian heritage, and delicate features add to the illusion of frailty. Her height is the main source of this misconception however as she is startlingly small, several inches under five feet. Amber eyes make many think of a comforting fire. Few who look bother looking past this appearance combined with her feminine attributes. Those who do, begin to recognize the tone of muscles under soft flesh like steel wrapped in silk from countless hours of physical training.

To the unfortunate ones who face her in a fight, they are the first to see the warm fire in her eyes become an inferno as her eyes shift to a bloody red, and come to see the fluidity and control in her movements. Lithe and strong, the perception of weakness often disappears in the instant her first blow lands, as the strength contained in her body seems impossible to the inexperienced.
Outfit Description:
Beacon Uniform: Pearl is a woman that likes to stand out and hold the eye. This is no less true when it comes to her Beacon uniform. While the colors and overall design of the uniform are unmistakably those of a Beacon uniform she's had adjustments made to suit her tastes; She has had the sleeves tailored off of blouse and blazer both. A silver chain has been embroidered into the the tie. The Beacon standard thigh high socks and stockings are replaced by socks of her own styles, with designs both modest and eye catching finding their way onto her legs. While in uniform Pearl forgoes her typical metal hair ornament and usually wears her hair in braided styles that change often. A silver choker is always present around her neck, whether in uniform, in combat, or even a casual outfit. The same can be said of a white ribbon worn on her upper right arm.

Casual Outfits: Pearl rarely opts for something truly casual, preferring to wear her combat outfit or something more formal like a well made dress, a button up blouse and skirt, to sometimes just going about the city in her Beacon Uniform. When she finally does choose to dress down, she prefers sundresses in her preferred colors, Orange, Red, or White. Even some of her sundresses though wouldn’t seem too out of place in more affluent areas, as some often have intricate designs hand sewn into the fabric.

Battle Outfit: Pearl’s combat outfit is like a second skin to the fox. Unless a situation calls for wearing something else, she will wear her typical leather corset, long orange hip skirt and thigh high boots. When fully kitted out, she will be seen with a pair of highly reflective goggles resting on her head, light overlapping plating guarding her arms and legs, a metallic hair ornament holding back long white hair, a white vest even she jokes serves no purpose besides to inspire the question, and belts and bandoliers to carry dust canisters or grenades. Much the same to a clever mind.
Personality Description:
Many people see the world through a lens of experience, their lives shaping what they know and expect, and how the very world looks to them. Pearl is a woman who struggles to see the world through a new lens. While perceptive and determined to become a better person than she was, it is often difficult for her to relate to others who aren’t at least somewhat familiar with what she grew up with. Cautious and wary, her amber eyes are always on the lookout for a threat even if she is hoping for a chance to make peace with those around her. Due to her constant drive to improve herself, she often sees others as less disciplined, or outright weaker. Despite this she is always eager to do the right thing, she will often jump at the opportunity to help someone even if she realizes she may not be the best equipped for the task.

Her heart of gold however is held back by the reality she has seen in her upbringing and and a menacing temper. To those who know little about her this can cause her mannerisms to seem awkward or off-putting at best, and threatening at worst whenever her anger threatens to get the best of her.
Backstory Highlights:
While some who know her joke that she was born shaped of steel and fire only to be cooled with a soul of ice, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Pearl was born to a happy, if somewhat strange couple, in the Kingdom of Atlas. The daughter of a human huntress and a faunus mechanic, there would be no easy life for her, but it wasn’t always destined to be hard. Her father was a skilled airship mechanic who often worked night and day on the maintenance of Atlas’s warships. Her mother, at the time, was an unremarkable huntress who’s most remarkable trait was that she detested the faunus. How they came together into a happy union and eventual marriage is a story Pearl is often unwilling to tell, even if it is no more unique than a smitten faunus proving that he was a good man regardless of his heritage.

While Pearl knew of her mother, she didn’t remember her. Nor did she know that her mother had a strong hatred of the faunus. Shortly after her birth, when she was still less than a year old, her mother left out of fear for Pearl. When the time finally came that the young fox was able to ask what happened to her mother, her father could only think of a lie that he felt would be far kinder than learning that a mother feared harming their own child. A lie that she died during Pearl’s birth due to illness. Always her father had nothing but kind words about his wife, and always did he try to keep the fact she was still alive and her opinions of faunus quiet. The lie about her mother’s fate would eventually have an effect on Pearl, but only much later.

Despite having a position that most humans would consider prestigious for a faunus, making ends meet and providing for his daughter was a struggle for Reynard. Over the years he did his best to teach her what he could. Instill in her the value of honesty, for even a small lie could hurt. There was always a touch of sadness that Pearl never understood when he said it. With no way to see to her care while he worked, he often did what he could to sneak her with him so that he could keep an eye on her. During this time Pearl often had the opportunity to fiddle with broken machinery or worn out tools. Eventually this turned into a curiosity for her father’s work and lessons he was eager to teach. While Pearl got her height from her father, even his hands could be too large to reach some of the places he needed to work.

Their life would have likely continued as such, Pearl becoming a mechanic like her father, and maybe marrying a charming faunus or perhaps being lucky enough to earn the love of a human and raising her own family. While she has become a mechanic, little else followed that path as it was not fated to be. One day during their work, shortly after Pearl’s ninth birthday, security alarms started going off in the airship docks. While it was a rare occurrence, Reynard had made it clear the best thing to do in those situations was to just keep their heads down and continue their work. It worked in a sense. While they worked, both took note of a man who didn’t belong, but neither made a move to stop him. Nor did he pay them more than a sidelong glance as he quietly made his way onto the airship they were preparing to do maintenance on. Faunus were of little more note than the tools they were using.

Their luck ended when the security forces arrived. To this day, Pearl doesn’t understand exactly what happened, or why they started shooting. She could tell you the exact tool, and size of it in her hands, down to the scratches from wear. She couldn’t say what was said by her father or the security forces besides the word “fire” and the sound of gunfire making her ears ring. Frightened of the men and the gunfire, her first thought was to run to father on the ground. Part of her understood the danger, but trying to make sure her father was okay, the only good thing in her life was safe, overrode all other instincts. It was too late for Reynard though as his daughter shook him and cried. The call that there was another one was the only thing that saved her life. Had the security officer who saw her decided to simply open fire, that would have been the end of her story. Sometimes in moments of weakness she wonders if that was supposed to be her fate.

Instead, he called out and she ran. Bullets struck steel and concrete as she scrambled into the ship. While the security forces weren’t familiar with the layouts of the airships they protected, Pearl was. She darted and ducked quickly losing those chasing her for a time. In her fear of the security forces, she didn’t notice the figure holding a rapier and shotgun. She ran face first into the man from before, the man that security was after. Blood from her hands stained the white of his clothes. She can still remember yelling and screaming at the man who caused her papa to be taken from her, small fists striking him in the legs to no effect. It wouldn’t be the last time she screamed herself hoarse at him, but it would be the last time she struck him.

The pommel of a sword striking her in the side of the head knocked her to the ground a mere second before a bullet struck the man she’d been hitting. It wasn't until later that she realized the blow saved her life. The security forces had followed her screaming to the man. Through the pain she watched one nightmare fight another. To call it a fight is something she laughs bitterly about now when she thinks back on it. The man in white and red danced more than fought, the close quarters and his skill giving him the advantage to dispatch his enemies. There was a ruthlessness and anger in the man that Pearl would only see in very rare cases later in her life.

Even as she lay there, her ears ringing from gunshots and the blow to her head, the man in white left the dispatched guards there without a second thought. Minutes passed before she felt the engines of the ship start, a rumble that reminded her of what her and her father were meant to work on. Like a girl possessed she picked herself up and ran as quickly as her legs would carry her. Amber eyes were greeted by a door that shouldn’t be closed, a door they were supposed to fix so that it could be opened from the inside in an emergency, along with the engine that would create an inferno around it that meant death to the person who had started this ship. There had been too much of that already. Without hesitating Pearl climbed into a maintenance shaft and reached to pull at one of the emergency levers for the door, with only hope that it worked. Whether through malfunction or design, she still doesn’t know, her arm got caught while the door opened.

Panic took hold of her as she felt the heat from the engine rising, an old engine design that was malfunctioning and filling the engine room with fire. A dozen fail-safes meant the ship would be able to fly in that state. It was how it got back, but there wasn’t a fail-safe to help her get her arm free, nor one to save her life if she couldn’t get out of the maintenance shaft. Pain washed over her for what seemed for ages before she felt a hand grasp her ankle and pull. Blacking out from the intense pain in her arm, she never noticed the flash of silver fire burning around her as her aura and semblance awoke.

What exactly happened after that isn’t something she will ever be certain of. The fox awoke in dull pain, the source being the end of her bandaged limbs. One burned off just above the elbow, the other at the wrist. It wasn’t home. The bed was too soft, the light coming in from the windows too bright, too warm, but home didn’t exist anymore. It was the start of a new life in the service of the man in white. Carmine Eburnean. A service that only truly begun after she was able to replace her missing limbs.

Her life became something strange and unique in his service, something that even now confuses her at times. In name, she was a slave. She served at any task she was asked to. Clean, cook, bring food to guests, be beaten for spilling tea on the table linens in front of those guests. The lie of her being a slave died there. If there was something she desired, she would have it. If there was something she wished to learn, she would find herself being taught. It was always to make her seem a “more impressive trophy.” Only one person ever saw through the ruse and that was Pearl herself, or if others had, they were smart enough to never mention that the man who collected broken faunus girls as slaves seemed to have one he truly cared for.

Over the years, this fueled a loyalty to Carmine that made Pearl want to do ever more for the man. She asked for combat tutors so she could protect him, and he provided the best. She began to accompany him on his dealings, Pearl having become numb to the idea of crime long ago. Always she was dressed in clothes fitting a servant during these deals, to make her seem unassuming and as little more than a pretty face. During one such deal, a fool made an attempt on Carmine’s life, a bullet aimed for his heart was snatched out of the air by a steel fist. The last moments of her father came back to her in an instant, the faces of the security forces appearing in place of those who had their weapons aimed at Carmine and herself. Pearl earned the moniker of Hellhound that night, as most of the men were dispatched in brutal fashion originally believed to be caused by a grimm rather than a person. With her more than proving she could keep both of them safe, her master started having her take a more important role in his business.

While there were other attempts on Carmine’s life after this, and many ended in the same way, there was one instance that lead to Pearl becoming something more than just an enforcer. Whether the individual was a rogue huntress or simply someone who trained under one, she still doesn’t know, but a person with a semblance capable of temporarily manipulating time in a small area began to hunt her master. The first two times Pearl fought this individual, she was left broken and beaten. After the first time she began training to the point of exhaustion every opportunity she had. If not for the murderer being so particular about who she killed, Pearl would have been slain. Both times, Carmine was able to escape. After two years of training, studying the way this person murdered other victims, Pearl had her third fight with the woman. While it was a struggle, she managed to defeat the assassin.

The fight however lasted long enough for the attention of actual huntsmen to fall on the pair. While they didn’t arrive in time to effect the outcome of the fight, they did stop Pearl from making an escape. She spent months detained in Mistral being questioned regarding the woman she had beaten and for her own reasons of being there. While she didn’t hesitate to answer questions regarding the assassin, she only ever had one answer to give for her reasons to be in Mistral, much to the frustration of the authorities. To catch the woman she had fought. Strangely one day, she was released instead of actually imprisoned like she expected. Even she finds it hard to believe Carmine had the pull to keep her out of trouble after all that happened, but she isn’t aware of anyone else who would have tried. When she finally arrived back in Vale, Carmine who she’d struggled to keep safe two long years against this woman, had vanished. Everything that marked him having been there was gone save for one lone picture. He had left everything to her, but she’d have given it all up in an instant if it meant he hadn’t also left her.

With nowhere else to go, no one left to protect it was some time before she figured out what to do. Pearl chose to take the years of training under huntsmen and the skills she’d attained against the assassin to do something more than sit aimlessly living a life she didn’t feel she had earned. While the combat portion of the exam was passed with ease, other areas were more of a struggle, reinforcing her desire to truly study. However, there was one major requirement she didn’t expect before she could become a student. She had to not only face her demons from what she’d done protecting Carmine, but seek help doing so. While not initially happy with the decision, she has recognized how it has helped her over the two years she’s already been at Beacon.

Since her time at Beacon, she has upgraded her prosthetics to proper cybertech and has secretly begun to expand her master's old business rather than simply maintain the status quo.
Occupation:
Inherited Owner of EAL, Student of Beacon
Education:
Pearl has had private tutors provided to her in many subjects, but a vast majority of this tutelage was in the form of huntsmen being paid to teach her. This resulted in an education primarily focused in solo combat effectiveness rather than the finer points of dealing with grimm, team tactics, or other less applicable subjects as many huntsmen willing to work for a man like her master aren’t as talented in other aspects of being huntsmen. Despite this, some question the purpose of her being at Beacon with her current capabilities.
Semblance Name:
Philosophers Catalyst
Semblance Description:
Pearl's semblance in the most simplistic terms allows her to copy the properties of one material onto another using her aura as a catalyst. A ball of steel can be molded like clay, a glass bottle becoming as rigid and durable as steel, a piece of wood conducting electricity like the finest Atlesian alloys, but only if she has a piece of one of these materials to copy the property from. The more material or drastic the change, the more aura is used in the process.
Weapon Name:
Citrine Bevel
Weapon Description:
Citrine Bevel is a dual bladed cleaver that Pearl views more of as a true partner in combat than as a weapon. The weapon is her equal in a fight, just as dangerous as the woman wielding it. Citrine Bevel’s sword-like blades are reinforced and incredibly durable despite the appearance of cracks throughout. Mounted between blades is a dust-engine based off the same engine that took her arm and hand that has been modified to power a chaingun with a harpoon mounted in the center. The harpoon used to be a method of quickly moving from place to place as a grapple, but has more become a tool to bring a grimm into the blades of the weapon, and then obliterated by the chaingun.
Other Gear:
Pearl has made herself many other weapons she hasn’t named, ranging from simple swords and handaxes, to a collapsible combat shotgun that served as a surprise and key tool in turning the battle against the time wielding assassin. One weapon she takes pride in is a ornate looking revolver with the capability of bringing down large grimm in a few well places shots.

A bandolier of canisters holding refined dust and several dust grenades are usually present when she's ready for battle.
Fighting Style:
Pearl has been trained by many huntsmen and has learned several combat styles. While she is skilled in these other styles, and aspects of them are blended into her primary method of combat, she is most commonly seen using one of two methods of fighting.

When Pearl can keep her wits about her, she fights with precise crushing blows and terrifying speed. Each motion and action accounted for, she is capable of deflecting and parrying devastating attacks while countering with whatever weapon she is using. She often augments herself via her semblance and dust to able achieve things beyond her normal limits. As a fight progresses her aura is more clearly seen burning around her in silvery fire.

Pearl's other way of fighting is by embracing that same fear and rage that let her protect Carmine at such a young age. While strategy is difficult to form, the mixture of adrenaline and aura push her well beyond her normal limits. In this state she is far more reckless, but able to shrug off many blows through force of will and aura. A dangerous tool, she finds it hard to control what comes to harm in this state, but is eagerly seeking a way to master it. This is one of the main reasons she continues her studies at Beacon. Beyond the dangers to herself and others, there is a glaring weakness that makes it more fitting as a last resort until she finds a way to keep her mind while fighting like this.
Strengths:
Incredibly perceptive and capable of reading peoples reactions and emotions. With her experiences however, sometimes she is simply reading the manual upside down without noticing. She is a very capable cook. What she truly excels at is combat and games of the mind. While there are certain social interactions she struggles with, she is more than capable of avoiding being manipulated, and if necessary, playing the game of manipulation right back.
Weaknesses:
Pearl is a woman loathe to admit her weaknesses, but she is aware she has many. She suffers from vanity in her appearance and skill, while feeling a constant need to prove it or put it on display. She often spends an hour or more each day making sure her appearance is satisfactory, and spends many more hours training to raise her skills to new heights. This desire to appear unconquerable results in her pushing many away and even keeping many things she enjoys private. This has also lead to shying away from things she believes she might fail at.

While she was trained by many tutors and learned how to deal with disreputable people and criminals, she struggles to deal with other people, including students. There are many social situations however where she simply cannot “read the room” or may miss the significance of an action and how it may be taken.
Likes:
She has an adoration for all things art. Whether something temporary such as a well made meal, or something permanent such as a painting or sculpture, she loves art. It’s one of her greatest regrets that she struggles to find art styles she can truly create a masterpiece in with her hands the way they are.

Music is another part of the world she loves. No matter where she goes, there’s music. Even in class, she will often have an earbud in to keep some form of music going while she listens to a lecture.

Many of Pearl’s private dreams come from the idea of fairy tale romance. The happy endings, the princess or damsel saved from distress by her prince charming. She knows it’s foolishness and will never happen, but she still loves a good fairy tale.
Dislikes:
Pearl has a distaste of scars on herself and sees them as marks of failure. For this reason despite many injuries, she has had procedures to remove each of the offending marks. In some cases, a sharp eye getting close enough may be able to notice faint marks where some used to be, however they are faded enough that even Pearl tends to overlook them.

Due to the way she lost her limbs, Pearl is terrified of fire. While she does well to hide it, even shrouding herself with it in combat to prevent others from using her fear against her, it makes her far more likely to lose her wits in a fight.

Pearl highly dislikes vulgarity and is a bit of a prude, often shying away from people who make sexual jokes or comments too freely.

Silence… If everything is silent Pearl will often start moving her fingers and tapping to make some kind of noise. Even if she needs to be absolutely stealthy, silence drives her mad.
Recent Events:
Pearl is a capable huntress in training who will take any opportunity to get out and put her skills to use. She may be a little over confident after beating a Huntress class enemy who had defeated and killed a huntsman. That said she is aware one of the reasons she won was from studying her opponent over a course of time to learn their strengths, weaknesses, and how their semblance functioned. So while she is still be able to hold her own against some Huntress or Huntsman level enemies, she is more likely to be at a disadvantage the less raw strength and speed can play a part in her victory.

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